Ahead of the 'Live Music Protection in Wales' debate in the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday 12th July, Julie Morgan AM and I took the Welsh Government Minister responsible, Lesley Griffiths, to meet the Save Womanby Campaigners.

Womanby Street is part of what makes Cardiff such a great cultural city, and it must be protected. I am really pleased that Lesley Griffiths has acted so quickly. I was delighted to be able to show the Cabinet Secretary what this change in policy would mean for Womanby Street and its campaigners. Planning is a devolved issue, so it's a good example of how devolved Government can get issues addressed in a timely fashion.

Lesley Griffiths said:"I'm very pleased to meet the campaigners today and they've impressed upon me how important Womanby Street is to the Capital City of Wales. I have asked my officials to revise Planning Policy Wales to ensure that the Agent of Change principle is explicitly referenced, and have written to all local authorities to inform them of the changes."

Under the Agent of Change principle, if new developments are to be introduced near a pre-existing business, such as live music venues, it is the developer's responsibility to ensure that solutions to address and mitigate the noise are put forward.

On May 19th, Lesley Griffiths responded to the AMs and agreed to amend Planning Guidance to include the 'Agent of Change' principle into updated national planning policy. The Minister also confirmed that Planning Policy Wales will be updated to allow the designation of areas of cultural significance for music within Local Development Plans (LDP).